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 It is with great regret and sorrow that we must notify you of the death of our
Classmate, Clancy Matsuda, on February 11, 2023, in Sioux Falls, SD.
Clancy is survived by his wife; Connie, their son Matt; their daughter Leilani
Komatsubara and her husband Takeshi; and their grandchildren Kohta and Kay
Komatsubara.
Visitation will be at 4:30–6:30 PM, Saturday, February 18, 2023, at Spirit of
Truth Lutheran Church, 112 E Annabelle Street, Brandon, SD 57005.
Memorial Services will be at 2 PM, Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Spirit of Truth
Lutheran Church.
Burial will be at 2 PM, Tuesday, February 22, 2023, at the South Dakota State
Veteran’s Cemetery, 25965 477th Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57104 with Full Military
Honors.
Condolences may be sent to Connie at 1517 Custer Parkway, Brandon, SD
57005-1533.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Clancy's memory be sent to
the charty of your choice.
Well done, Clancy. Be thou at peace.
Remembrances:
Class Memorial Pages\A-2 Clancy Matsuda.pdf
Obituaries:
Clarence “Clancy” Genji Matsuda
July 18, 1937 ~ February 11, 2023
Retired Colonel Clarence (Clancy) Genji Matsuda, 85, died Saturday, February 11,
2023, at Good Samaritan Village, Sioux Falls, SD.
Visitation with family will be 4:30pm – 6:30pm, Saturday, February 18, 2023, at
Spirit of Truth Lutheran Church, Brandon, SD. Memorial Services will be 2pm,
Sunday, February 19, 2023, also at Spirit of Truth Lutheran Church. Burial will
be 2pm, Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at the SD State Veteran’s Cemetery, with
Full Military Honors. A livestream link will be provided Saturday for viewing
on Sunday. The stream will start at approximately 1:45pm Sunday.
Clarence “Clancy” Genji Matsuda was born on July 18, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii,
to Genyei and Miyo (Miyashiro) Matsuda. He entered the U.S. Military Academy
Preparatory School in 1956, and the U.S. Military Academy in 1957. He was
commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army through the Officers’
Candidate School in December 1961. Overseas assignments included Santo Domingo,
two tours in Vietnam, and Korea.
After 21 moves with his wife (and later, his family), he retired from the Army
on August 31, 1989. He and Connie settled in Brandon, SD in 1990. After his
retirement from the Army, he spent three seasons as a volunteer football coach.
His Christian faith guided much of his activity. Clancy graduated from North
American Baptist Seminary before serving as a counselor at the West Farm and
made missionary trips to Russia and Mongolia. He served in various leadership
roles in his church.
Clancy is survived by his wife, Connie; his children, Matthew Matsuda, Brandon,
and Leilani (Takeshi) Komatsubara, Sakata, Japan; his grandchildren, Kohta and
Kay Komatsubara; and his brother, Charles Matsuda, Kaneohe, HI, and sister,
Linda Kimura, Honolulu, HI.
Clancy was preceded in death by his parents, Genyei and Miyo (Miyashiro)
Matsuda; one sister, Lily; and two brothers, Wilfred, and Michael.
Assembly/Taps Memorial Article:
Clarence G. Matsuda ex-1961
Cullum No. 617629 | February
11, 2023 | Died in Sioux Falls,
SD
Interred in South Dakota Veterans
Cemetery, Sioux, Falls, SD.
Clarence Genji “Clancy” Matsuda was born July 18, 1937 in Honolulu, HI.
After graduating from Farrington High School in 1955, Clancy attended a year
at the University of Hawaii. He was then selected for the U.S. Military
Academy Preparatory School and a year later joined the Class of 1961. An
outstanding athlete in baseball and football, Clancy set aside those skills
to concentrate on his studies. It was to no avail. His bouts with academics
over the next two years were unsuccessful, despite the best effort of his
1961 classmates and, after readmission, his 1962 classmates.
He demonstrated outstanding persistence
and dedication to becoming an Army officer during that time, re-enlisting to
attend basic, advanced individual, and airborne training and receiving his
paratrooper wings from General Westmoreland as the honor graduate of his
class. Less than a year after his departure from USMA, Clancy earned his
commission from the Infantry Officer Candidate School in December 1961,
followed by earning his Ranger Tab in March 1962.
Clancy often spoke about the next event,
maybe the most significant in his life: “Happiness entered my life in 1963.
I have been blessed in my marriage to Connie Waugh, homecoming queen from
Hendricks, MN. She was my math teacher, the perfect counterbalance for my
academic deficiencies. But most important, she’s my spiritual inspiration
and the loving mother of my children.” The Matsudas were married for 59
years and 21 moves.
Clancy earned a B.S. from the University
of Omaha and M.A.’s from Webster College and the North American Baptist
Seminary. His military schooling included OCS, the Infantry Officer Advanced
Course, the MATA Course, Command and General Staff College, and the
Inspector General Course.
Prior to his retirement, Clancy was
inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame.
After his retirement he was also inducted
into the Ranger Hall of Fame. As a recon platoon leader in the 173rd
Airborne Brigade, he had led the “aggressor” force on a field exercise which
gained him considerable notoriety. Capturing a sleeping lieutenant, Clancy
inflicted a wound during the ensuing fight, leaving a scar that the
embarrassed officer carried for the rest of his career. That officer was
Wayne Downing, one of two Class of 1962 four-stars, who became a lifetime
friend.
Other Ranger assignments included the
82nd Airborne Division’s Raider Detachment in the Dominican Republic and the
9th Infantry Division’s Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Company in Vietnam.
Clancy also started the 9th Division Recondo School and was the G-3 advisor
to the Vietnamese 1st Special Operations Brigade in I Corps.
His career also included U.S. Recruiting
Command, a Korea assignment with the Eighth Army, battalion command with the
7th Division, the Pentagon with ODCDPER, Indiana Area Command and finally as
commander of a readiness group. As an old paratrooper, the event he
cherished most was a parachute jump he made with his son Matt (a West Point
cadet) and Joe Stringham, his 1961 plebe roommate and the commander of the
75th Ranger Regiment.
Clancy was a natural leader. At West
Point, a cadet from his Beast Barracks squad called Cadet Matsuda “a rigid
taskmaster who instilled the necessary discipline and toughness to survive
the system. And he did it with an open friendly style.” In combat, when his
unit came under withering fire from an enemy force entrenched in bunkers,
Captain Matsuda led a counterattack and was awarded the Silver Star. After
that battle, Clancy recommended two of his soldiers for the Medal of Honor.
Clancy later described these awards which were presented by the president of
the United States as the most impressive ceremony he ever attended.
Clancy’s awards for his distinguished
military career include the Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal
with two oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf
clusters, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, Army
Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry
with Palm, Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, and Ranger
Tab.
On August 31, 1989, after 26 years of
service, Clancy retired from the Army as a colonel. The Matsudas settled in
Brandon, SD, and Clancy became a high school football coach and religious
counselor. He made missionary trips to Russia and Mongolia and served in
various leadership roles in his church.
Clancy passed away on February 11, 2023.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Genyei and Miyo (Miyashiro)
Matsuda; his sister Lily; and his brothers Wilfred and Michael. He is
survived by his wife Connie; their son, Matthew; their daughter, Leilani
(Takeshi) Komatsubara; their grandchildren, Kohta and Kay Komatsubara; his
brother Charles Matsuda and his sister Linda Kimura. Clancy is buried in the
South Dakota State Veterans Cemetery. It is fitting that the song “Amazing
Grace” was sung at his celebration of life. It captures Clancy to the
fullest. He was a graceful, sensitive, wonderful man.
We will always remember Clancy for his
mild demeanor, good humor, love of family and friends, and charisma. Simply
put, everyone liked Clancy. He loved his God, his family, his soldiers, and
his nation. He was a great American who served our nation in the finest
traditions of our Army and West Point. We are all enormously proud of him.
No one deserved a place in the Long Gray Line more than Colonel Clancy
Matsuda. He was truly a soldier’s soldier.
Well Done, soldier, husband, father, and
friend; Be Thou at Peace.
— His
Wife, Connie, and Company A-2 Classmates from 1961 and 1962
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